>From:    Holly Jagger <[log in to unmask]>

>When we are told we have autoimmune hypothyroidism, does this definitely
>indicate the gland will decline in function more and more until it is
>totally destroyed?

In a summary of an endo journal on a med school website, I read about a 
patient coming in with adrenal crises.  He historically had high Hashimoto's 
titters, but after they treated him with corticosteroids they fixed the 
adrenal crises, he also no longer had Hashi's antibodies, and the course of 
the treatment was only short term.

So, sometimes hydrocortisone or other corticosteroids can cure Hashimoto's, 
if patients on thyroid replacment, the antibodies frequently go down, and in 
one of the better but more techinical sites about thyroid problems, they say 
that it goes away on its own sometimes -

http://thyroidmanager.org/Chapter8/8-frame.htm
"However, it is now clear that up to one-fourth of patients who are 
hypothyroid may spontaneously return to normal function over the course of 
several years. This sequence may reflect the initial effect of high titers 
of thyroid stimulation blocking antibodies which fall with time and allow 
thyroid function to return(23)."

Which means sometimes thyroid medication isn't necessary forever.

They go on further to talk about it in combo with Addison's -

"Hashimoto's thyroiditis and hypothyroidism are associated with Addison's 
disease, diabetes mellitus, hypogonadism, hypopara-thyroidism, and 
pernicious anemia. Such combinations are described as the polyglandular 
failure syndrome. "

Anyway, according to Arem in "The Thyroid Solution", up to 10% of those who 
have Hashimoto's can be detected by some kind of ultrasound, but they don't 
know how to test for all the antibodies.

I would say if your antibodies weren't going down, the treatment isn't the 
best one for you, but that's kind of hard to measure when they're not the 
detectable antibodies.

  Skipper

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